Griffin’s Coach: “[Forrest] Didn’t Feel Like Sticking Around”

Since getting slapped silly by Anderson Silva at UFC 101 this past weekend, former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin hasn’t been heard from or seen since. In the meantime, his coach Ron Frazier would like to speak on his behalf.

“He’s an emotional guy and he just didn’t feel like sticking around,” Frazier told Fighthype.com in regards to Griffin’s abrupt exit from the Octagon.

Although their bout didn’t go past 3:23 in the 1stRound, Griffin was outclassed in every aspect of the MMA game. The middleweight champ looked faster, quicker and more accurate as he dropped Griffin three times before ultimately putting him to sleep with a walking-away jab.

When Griffin finally came to, he took off like a fart in the wind, not stopping for a second to acknowledge his fans or the man that just humiliated him.

Rumor was he may have busted-up his jaw and that was why he rushed back to the locker room so quickly, however Frazier said that it was because of his uncontrollable “emotions.”

“He wasn’t injured,” Frazier said.

He might not have been hurt physically, but his feelings certainly were, and that is something that takes a lot more time to heal than any broken bone.

This isn’t the first time that Griffin went LeBron James-like and bolted after a loss. He threw the same tantrum after Keith Jardine knocked him out at UFC 66 in December of 2006.

Like that time, Frazier claims that Griffin’s actions are “no big deal” and the media is blowing his poor sportsmanship out of proportion.

“He’s an emotional creature so he left the cage,” Frazier stated. “It wasn’t really a big deal. I think people are making a bigger deal out of it then it really is.”

Frazier was quick to recognize that, although Griffin is pretty depressed about losing his second consecutive fight via knockout, he’s going to bounce back and challenge for the strap once again.

“It’s weighing on him a little bit, but he will be fine. He’ll come back,” he promised.

Clearly Griffin’s childish behavior had nothing to do with Silva as a person or fighter, but everything to do with his own horrendous performance, a sentiment echoed by Frazier.

“I would like to say bad things about the guy, but he’s such a nice guy,” Frazier said of Silva. “Obviously his game speaks for itself.”

At any level, no matter what sport you compete in, nobody likes to lose. However, what separates mixed martial arts from all other sports on the planet is the sanctity of honor and respect that is entrenched in its tradition.